Document #1117667
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to a representative of the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel in Jerusalem, a child does
not have to be circumcised in order to attend secular
government-sponsored daycare, nor does the secular daycare check to
see if the child is circumcised (27 June 1994). He added that he
did not believe a non-Jewish male child would want to attend a
Jewish religious daycare centre, therefore circumcision likely
would not be an issue. He did acknowledge, however, that he was not
sure of the religious requirements or prerequisites set by
religious daycare centres. The representative further added that
some Jewish boys are not circumcised, depending on the wishes of
the parents, although he assumed the director of a religious
daycare would insist that a Jewish child undergo a circumcision
ceremony in order to attend his daycare centre (ibid.).
According to a representative of the
National Council for the Child in Jerusalem, it is not necessary
for a child to be circumcised in order to attend daycare (28 June
1994). With regard to religious daycare, circumcision is more a
religious principle than a necessity. It would be assumed that a
child was circumcised and no investigation would be carried
out.
The representative of the National Council
for the Child stated that the organization has never had a
complaint lodged or an appeal made because a child was not
circumcised and could not attend either a religious or secular
daycare centre. The unit dealing with new immigrants from the
former Soviet Union has never received a formal complaint
concerning a problem of this nature either. The representative
stated that he was not saying that a male child has never been
prevented from attending daycare due to not being circumcised, only
that a formal complaint of such an incident has never been received
by his organization. He also added that he has never heard of a
policy requiring circumcision in order to attend daycare.
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Association for Civil Rights in
Israel, Jerusalem. 27 June 1994. Telephone conversation with a
representative.
National Council for the Child,
Jerusalem. 28 June 1994. Telephone conversation with a
representative.